


birth to afterbirth

by jswoon2



Category: Death Parade (Anime)
Genre: Afterlife, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - American Horror Story, Alternate Universe - Fusion, American Horror Story References, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 22:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8030443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jswoon2/pseuds/jswoon2
Summary: In a few months, she'll have the dank house redecorated and back on the market just in time to buy her ticket for the C.H.A. end of year tour.Based on "American Horror Story: Murder House".





	birth to afterbirth

**Author's Note:**

> I'd meant for this to be a full story, but that didn't happen. It's how I spent my time instead of studying for my cognitive exam.

1.

A man named Oculus hands Mayu the rest of the paperwork to her grandparents' old house. And it's just that. Old. But they had given it to her - not her mother - in their wills so it's much simpler to just take it for now. In a few months, she'll have the dank place redecorated and back on the market just in time to buy her ticket for the C.H.A. end of year tour.

It's a perfect plan. Her parents will be mad at her for sure, but they'll realize later what a smart move she made.

"Any questions?" Oculus interrupts her thinking. He strokes his beard as he looks at her. Mayu's parents thought the man looked kind but she feels otherwise with the way he looks at her.

"No. None at all," she replies. A creak in the floorboards makes her whole body shiver. "Is that all?"

Oculus pushes his small glasses up, and bows slightly. "Yes. Please feel free to call if you have any troubles. The previous owners had issues with the water. I can put you into contact with a good plumber if you ever are in the need for one. Otherwise, I will be in touch with you and your lawyer to confirm everything is finalized properly."

Mayu crinkles her nose. The hallway smells. "Okay, thanks. I guess." Scuffing her slippers on the floor, she tries to smile. "May I walk you to the door?"

"No, no." He waves his hand in dismissal. "I know where it is." Oculus looks up the stairwell, eyes sad. "I'm very familiar with this house. In a week, I'll call again."

Hands stretched above her head, Mayu sighs. Her boxes are scattered around the house from the movers. Some boxes are in the proper rooms, some - the unlabeled boxes - had been left in the foyer. Maybe she should've let the movers unpack some things while she had the chance. Sure, it would've cost extra but at least she wouldn't be alone to do it. At this point, she'd take her chances with old man Oculus.

All her friends are three hours away now, of course.

Cursing underneath her breath, she wanders off from the kitchen in search of the bathroom. She takes two steps and hears a noise. The house is big. Big for normal standards in Japan. Seven rooms to use for living space, studies, or bedrooms, plus a large kitchen and three bathrooms.

Pausing, she writes the noise off. She's probably just hearing things anyway.

 

2.

On the way to bed one night, a loud crash has Mayu stopping in her tracks immediately.

"Um. Sorry."

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Mayu spins around, hands clutching the staircase rail. The girl standing behind her is tall. A slim figure and big, round eyes, Mayu would almost be jealous of the girl if not for the fact she broke into her house. Not to mention her clothes, an all-black ensemble. A black crop top with a jacket on top and a black skirt.

"Who're you?" Mayu takes a step back, getting higher and stops. If someone snuck up behind her, it's also possible that someone is already upstairs.

The young woman considers Mayu's question. Her expression is mostly blank. Mayu can't tell if she's trying to fool her or not.

"I'm - I don't really remember." The black haired girl says, face stuck in a frown.

Mayu wants to scream. She wants to question the girl in front of her but she still has to pee and being scared didn't help any. For a moment, the black haired girl looks as if she's relieved that Mayu isn't pressing any further questions until out of the corner of her eye, Mayu catches a flash of white.

"Your name is Chiyuki, remember?"

This time Mayu can't hold in the scream of terror. When she tries to get away, she only trips on the step behind her instead. She falls flat onto the step with a loud thud and a creak.

The black haired woman considers the white haired man's suggestion and gives a small, satisfied smile. "Oh, right. I remember now."

The man, even with Mayu standing on a higher step, can see right above her head. With his pale skin, white hair, and stark blue eyes, Mayu could've mistaken him for a ghost easily. His clothes are almost equally as drab as the girl's. Just a white shirt and plain black pants, like a bartender.

"I apologize," the man says, face blank, "we'll get out of your way."

She stutters, rising to her feet shakily. "Wait!" Somewhere, she gathers enough courage to take the man by the wrist, preventing him from going too far. "Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my house?"

The man with the white hair opens his mouth slowly to respond, only to be cut off by the girl now holding onto his arm. "Just neighbors."

Mayu calls a locksmith as soon as she shows them to the door. Then she thanks her bladder for not betraying her.

 

3.

The next time she sees Chiyuki, she's with a different man. This time her companion has spikey green hair with a yellow streak in it. He chatters on happily, an apple in his hand, as she washes a whiskey glass Mayu doesn't remember putting away. They look so at home in her kitchen that she almost forgets to react.

"Do you do this often?" Mayu asks, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to look more threatening. If anything, it makes the young man laugh. "Breaking and entering is a serious crime, you know!"

Chiyuki frowns. Looking at the glass in her hands, she moves it to the rack to dry. "How about I make you a drink?"

Mayu puffs her cheeks indignantly. "You break into my house and you think you can buy me with a drink?"

A cold hand lands on her shoulder. She jumps only to see the white haired man. "Perhaps," he suggests, "I can make you a drink. I used to be a bartender."

She frowns, trying to mimic the man's stern look. "Fine. Just one drink and it better be good! I only ever buy the good stuff so you better not waste it."

 

4.

The day Mayu finds a man with red hair lounging on her back porch, she can't even find it in her to be even a little surprised. She's gotten used to Chiyuki finding her way into the house (even though she can't quite figure out how). Usually, if Chiyuki is there, the white haired man - Decim, she had heard Chiyuki call him once - or the green haired one is with her.

"Who're you?" she demands.

The man just rolls over onto his side, pretending to snore.

Mayu huffs. Stomping over to the man, she prods him in the back with her foot repeatedly. "Are you deaf? I asked you a question. Who are you?"

Suddenly, a hand clamps around her ankle, holding her still. "Chill out, would you? I'm trying to take a nap and you're disturbing me." The man half turns, glaring at her. Mayu gulps. "A guy can't take a break around here. I thought Clavis said you were gone for the day. Fucking liar."

Wiggling, Mayu doesn't stop moving until the man lets go of her. "What are you talking about? Who's Clavis? And you still didn't answer my question. Who are you?"

"Fuck, you ask a lot of questions." Flopping onto his back, the man looks up at her with squinted eyes. He raises a hand to cover his eyes from the sun. "You're the most talkative one yet."

"What's that supposed to mean? You know about the previous house owners?"

The man sits up abruptly. "Listen, even if I knew about the previous owners, I wouldn't tell you anything about them anyway. Not supposed to and all that jazz." Casually, he waves his hand around in dismissal. Then he gets up. "Guess I have to find a new napping spot."

"Wait!" she says, hand shooting out to grab at his arm. "Tell me who you are."

He snorts. Leaning down, he looks her straight in the eye and shrugs before straightening up again. "It's Ginti."

Dumbly, she watches him as he walks back into her house. His name and the number twenty read in bold from the back of his shirt. Despite the typically creaky wood, he walks silently back inside.

 

5.

Stumbling downstairs, Mayu rubs at her eyes.

She changed her locks, put up a brand new fence and added a new security system but still she should've anticipated the strange gathering in her living room. Chiyuki sat next to Decim on the loveseat, their thighs just touching, while Ginti took the recliner. Clavis sat on the floor on his knees as he dealt a deck of cards to everyone.

Clavis was the first to acknowledge her.

"Want to play?" he asks while waving the deck of cards in his hand.

Mayu thinks of the time and yawns. She thinks of work tomorrow before making her decision. "What're you playing?"

"Old Maid." Clavis says, gathering the cards already dealt to do things over again. "Ginti has never played it so we had to fix it immediately."

"Does a stupid card game matter that much?" Ginti grumbles, swirling his bottle of beer in small circles.

Sitting next to Clavis, Mayu knocks her hand into Ginti's knee. "I should've known. Such a party pooper. Card games are fun."

Ginti scowls. Chiyuki chuckles, hiding her face in Decim's direction. Mayu thinks her cheeks color with embarrassment, but at the end of the night, she's not sure.

 

6.

"I've tried everything and nobody wants this stupid house!" Frustrated, Mayu kicks at the rocks in her backyard until they skip several paces.

Behind her Ginti laughs. She turns, ready to yell at him too - he's someone to take her anger on after all - but he beats her to it. "Who wants to buy a murder house?"

Her anger falters. "Murder what?"

"You know, murder house. It's what this place is called. The house is haunted by the spirits of the people who were murdered in this house. That's what everyone says at least." Ginti walks to her, hands in his pockets. He sighs in disbelief. "You seriously didn't know?" He watches her facial expression fall. "Shit. Your folks they didn't die here, did they?"

Mayu feels her lip tremble.

 _Did_ they die here?

Ginti takes her into his arms hastily, stuttering. He's awkward about it. "Shit. Fuck. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. I'm sorry. Geez."

Even when she ruins his shirt with her tears and makeup, he doesn't say anything. He just keeps rubbing her back awkwardly.

They don't talk about it.

 

7.

Mayu makes plans for Halloween until a hand slams into the front door, preventing her from leave.

"Get out of my way," she tells Ginti.

The man only laughs. His hand slips down the door and he moves to lean against it. "You sure you want to do that?"

"Of course I do. I have a party to get to and an after party after that." She says, poking him in the chest.

Casually, he catches her hand and holds it. "It's pretty scary out there, princess. I'm only going to say it one more time: you sure you want to do that?"

"Give me one reason why I wouldn't?"

His eyes look over her shoulder. Suddenly, his playful expression falls. He lets go of her hand and she pretends not to be disappointed. "Fine, go. Try to stay out until midnight. Memine and I will hold down the fort for all the snot nosed kids wanting candy."

Opening the door, he takes her by the back of the neck and leads her outside. Mayu protests, arguing against his strange behavior in spite of the fact he's definitely ignoring her. The aforementioned cat winds around her feet, almost guiding her forward so she doesn't step on him.

"Actually," he frowns, "just take Memine with you. It'll look good with that - whatever you're wearing."

"I'm a witch."

Ginti laughs, his usual smirk back. Then it dawns on her. "You said it not me," he laughs. She can't even take it back. He's smiling at her.

 

8.

She's attempting to sleep when there seems to be a meeting outside her door. She doesn't move in fear of making too much noise, but she does her best to listen.

"Do you really think you can keep her away from Nona much longer?"

"Probably not. She was hoping she'd move out by Halloween but she's still here."

"She lasted longer than most."

Chiyuki, Decim, and Ginti she recognized immediately.

"And if he comes to get her?" Decim asks.

Mayu hears Ginti sigh. "Well, let's hope that doesn't happen."

 

9.

Over dinner, Mayu notices she's the only one eating.

"Don't tell me you made me make you dinner and you're not even eating it." She says, reeling back to punch Ginti on the arm. He catches her though.

"Hey now, no need for that." His thumb brushes over her knuckles. "My mind's just preoccupied is all."

Mayu smiles. "You going to tell me what?"

Ginti lounges back on the couch, both hands holding his bowl of noodles. "You ever going to consider moving out again? Even if I told you that this is a murder house?"

"Why? You want to get rid of me that bad? I thought we were finally getting along." Putting on a pout, Mayu knocks her elbow into his.

She tries to smile, even as she thinks of the conversation she had overheard before.

 

10.

Nona turns out to be a petite woman with a large attitude. Nona also seems to dislike Mayu even though they've never interacted before.

"It's a wonder you lasted this long," she says in lieu of greeting.

Mayu drops her eyeliner pencil, her makeup half done. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Nona shrugs. "You're just not all that special is all. Don't get angry with me. But with how the others speak about you, I don't know. I expected more I guess." Then, mostly to herself, "I suppose it would be bad if he got to her first. I'll have to think about this a bit more."

Stunned, Mayu watches as Nona evaluates her before her eyes.

Nona wanders around the corner still muttering to herself. Mayu tries to follow, only a few steps behind, but when she gets to the corner, the young woman is no longer there.

 

11.

"Just give it to me straight," she says after she's cornered Decim one day, "what are you hiding from me? Why does Nona keep following me around the house?"

Slowly, as if to prolong time to think, Decim clears the materials he used to make himself a drink. "I can't answer that question."

"And why not?" she continues. Mayu pauses, looks out the window to see the Murder House Bus drive by. She starts to shake her head. "It has to do with the people who died here, didn't it?"

Decim remains as hard to read as ever. She still gets her answer.

 

12.

By the time she comes down the stairs with the last of her luggage, Ginti is standing there.

"You should've just told me, jerk!" she yells at him, throwing the carry on at his chest.

He catches it. "I don't think you would've believed me if I told you that I was a dead man trying to sleep on your porch. You would've thought I was crazy."

"You lied to me."

"I prefer omitted the truth."

"That's the same thing." Mayu argues, pressing the carry on back and forth into his chest. Somehow - for some strange reason - she's gotten accustomed to the strange people living her house. She always questioned how easy it was for them to get inside, but part of her liked it. She liked having the company.

"Sorry, princess, I was under strict orders." Ginti responds, tugging as she pushes so she falls against his chest. "To think I was finally getting used to having you around."

She opens and closes her mouth, baffled. No, it's the other way around. She had to get used to them. Not the other way around.

"That's where you're wrong," he says. Apparently, in her state, she had voiced her thoughts out loud. "I'm going to tell you a secret. People like me can't leave this house. We can try, but we can't. This house is our home for now and the rest of eternity. Believe me, we've tried."

Almost on cue, a person Mayu has never seen appear in her house walks past her. His suit is wrinkled and his hair is a mess. He walks right through the screen door, makes it to the fence before he stops suddenly. He drops to his knees, banging his hand against the air. For a moment, with the beaming down on him, she can almost see a barrier keeping him inside the property lines.

"The dumbass tries it every day. He keeps talking about going to see a girl. Usually, Nona has to drag him back inside." Ginti explains. He drops her bag onto the floor, shoving his hands into his pockets. "And here she comes," he announces.

Nona, her skin an even more pale white in the sun, materializes behind the man. She gives him a strong smack on the back of the head as she calls for Clavis. The man, too, shows up suddenly. Together, they grab him by the arms and as quick as they appeared, they disappear.

"We've tried to keep most of the spirits away from you. They didn't exactly take their deaths as well as they could've, but hey, they were murdered here so I guess there's that."

Before she knows it, fists have formed at her sides.

"And how did you die?"

"Huh?"

"How'd you die?"

Ginti pulls the handle to her luggage up, hands it to her. "One time, when this place was between owners, I thought I'd come in here and maybe trash the place just for something to do. I didn't get to see who did it."

"How long ago was that?" she asks. She tries to swallow.

"Maybe twenty years ago. Maybe more at this point."

 

13.

Somehow the house sells smoothly. Oculus said it had to do with the fact that the new owners were able to meet a previous owner for once. Apparently that isn't a common occurrence. Mayu cracks a smile but only because she has to.

She takes one more walk around the house to see if Ginti or one of the others will come out. They don't.

Mayu is sad, although partially grateful, when she gets to shake Oculus's hand for the last time. She thanks him as she hands over the keys to be given to the new owners after she leaves. They're in the living room where she spent so much time playing games with Clavis.

Her eyes water as she closes them. She feels warm.

 

14.

"So how long do you think they'll last? The couples always chicken out the fastest." Clavis says, throwing a dirty, outdated bill onto the table.

Chiyuki stays silent as she thinks. Then she bets on the man chickening out first which only makes Ginti disagree when he sees Decim about to agree with her judgement. Clavis laughs, gathering the money on the table.

"Well?" Clavis asks, holding his hand out for the missing piece.

Smiling, Mayu adds on, "The man, of course." As she stretches across the table to slap down her bill, the gouge on her neck shows, fresh.


End file.
